`Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.' --Vernor Vinge, The Singularity
Mission Statement
The Singularity Club (SC) is a (proposed) mutual aid society for Transtopian Singularitarians. By combining the talents and resources of its members, the group should be able to fund and coordinate projects which would be extremely hard or outright impossible if attempted on an individual basis. Our main goal is technotranscendence, the process of technological augmentation of one's mind and body which ultimately results in full mind uploading, superintelligence and potential immortality. Indeed, this new state could perhaps best be described as "godhood" from the current point of view. What we'll find on the other side of the Singularity is unknowable to us, but one thing is certain: we must get there in order to survive. Either you ride the coming tsunami of progress, or you get washed away and drown in it.
Apart from our grand future goal, the Singularity, there is the present to think about. As our future is very uncertain (death being a nontrivial possibility), we should try make the most of our current situation, miserable as it may be compared to a Posthuman existence. This is the SC's secondary purpose; to make the period leading up to the Singularity (or end of the world) as pleasant as possible for its members. Needless to say, money is a key element in all of the Club's activities, so gathering wealth will duly be one of its main agenda points (see below).
Structure
The SC is a society of equals and operates on the principle of spontaneous order, which means that there is no strict, static hierarchy but rather a fluid kind of semi-democracy. Though every Transtopian's primary allegiance is to himself, it is in everybody's enlightened self-interest to maintain a cooperative, reasonably pleasant atmosphere. This basically means that the Golden Rule (do onto others...) is to be observed when dealing with other members of the group; there must be a minimal amount of trust within a group if it wants to remain functional. For example, one of the main reasons why the cryonics movement is still so small and impotent is the lack of cooperation, and often even open hostility, among its (prominent) members (check out the CryoNet archives if you're interested in the gory details). The same also applies to a certain extent to the Transhumanist community, by the way. Diversity is all nice and dandy, but to really get something done you need like-minded people, who agree not only on the main goal (in our case surviving the Singularity and becoming god-like), but also on most socio-political issues which traditionally tend to cause bitter disputes. Also, should we achieve our goal and be about to upload and transcend (simultaneously, for obvious reasons), the chances of a (lethal) conflict after the transition due to irreconciable differences would presumably be smaller if all the participants have a lot in common (perhaps they might even decide to fuse into a single intelligence if they consider their differences to be trivial). So, the more like-minded the better where the SC membership is concerned. As the old but true cliche goes: "united we stand, devided we fall".
Activities
Assembling the group. First things first; the SC must have a "critical mass" of members to become operational. Therefore the project must be advertized, mainly on the web but also by any other effective means, like word of mouth. Apart from that, this website, and the Principles in particular, need to be improved so that they can convey their message more effectively. The primary purpose of advertizing Transtopianism and the SC is to hold out a beacon for the like-minded, though it goes without saying that every member is free to attempt "conversion" of the not-yet-fully-convinced if he thinks it's worth the effort.
Gathering wealth. Money is power. It can buy you just about anything, including beauty, health, safety, freedom, happiness and ultimately even godhood and immortality. Money is an extremely powerful tool in the right hands; it gives people the luxury to focus on the really important things instead of having to spend a considerable portion of their life doing mind-numbing and/or physically exhausting work just to make ends meet. That kind of existence is hardly fit for animals, let alone intelligent humans. Simply put, in order to fund our ambitious projects (see below) and achieve our goal of a pleasant life now and for all eternity, we need to get quite rich and not waste our precious time on tedious and degrading jobs unless momentarily there isn't a better option (or rather: if we can't think of a better option. Having to work is almost by definition an intellectual shortcoming). How exactly the money is generated doesn't really matter, as long as it's relatively fast, easy, profitable, and doesn't attract more unwanted (government) attention than we can handle.
When godhood is the prize (and extinction the penalty for losers), surely the end justifies if not all, then at least many means.
Keeping abreast of the latest technological developments, and implementing them to become more powerful, efficient and generally "transhuman". Or just for fun, of course. Apart from watching various tech-oriented mailing lists & newsgroups and aquiring membership of organizations like the Foresight Institute, it will be necessary to map out and track as much people and projects as possible which are somehow involved with (potentially) breaktrough technologies like AI, nanotech and genetic engineering. Furthermore, it will probably be necessary to set up some projects of our own (like one that specifically aimes to create a "mind upload device/procedure"-- the proverbial Holy Grail).
Miscellaneous, like learning advanced combat techniques for self-defense (this increases both mental and physical empowerment), indexing the best available food supplements, medical and recreational drugs, fitness programs, medical facilities, ways to deal with unwanted attention from governments and bureaucracy in general ("how to live free in an unfree world" -- see the links section), how and where to get the best cryonic suspension (and perhaps funding research in this area) and anything else that may further one's transhuman goals. The sky, or rather the bank account, is the limit.
So far the general outline of the Club's proposed activities. More information will be added as this site and the project develope. Should everything work out more or less as planned, we will upload and become Posthuman somewhere in the next century. If not, well...
Membership
If you feel like taking a shot at godhood and want to join, just drop me a note, preferably with a short bio, and/or join the mailing list (see below). Don't forget to read the Principles
and the Enlightenment Test first though, as these describe the general attitude & arrangements (cryonics) that are required of members. For the record: you don't need to have special skills, academic titles or money to join; what really matters is "commitment". A willingness to put some time and energy into this project. Without that, we don't stand a chance.
, the bookstore for the freedom-loving individual. Many obscure yet useful books on government, guns, drugs, sex, cover-ups, poisons, politics, survivalism, money, technology and lots more.
, a "transhuman" (run and founded by famous cryonicist Saul Kent) organization which sells and provides info about various life-enhancing & life-extending drugs and therapies
